Describe the typical back pain pattern in Ankylosing Spondylitis.

• A. Dull back pain >3 months worse in the morning and at night but better with exercise
• B. Acute sharp back pain that worsens with activity
• C. Pain better with rest and improves with heat
• D. Fever and night sweats

Answer: (A)

Inflammatory back pain is the pattern you look for with Ankylosing Spondylitis. It tends to be chronic, lasting more than 3 months, and presents as a dull, deep back ache with morning stiffness that is prolonged and often accompanied by night pain. The key feature is that this pain improves with exercise or activity rather than with rest. This helps distinguish it from mechanical back pain, which typically worsens with activity and improves with rest, and from systemic symptoms like fever or night sweats that point to other diseases. So the described pattern—dull pain for more than 3 months, worse in the morning and at night, but better with exercise—best fits inflammatory back pain in AS.